Capturing Appalachia's "Mountain People"
Shelby Lee Adams' 1990 photograph of life in the eastern Kentucky mountains captured a poignant tradition
- By Abigail Tucker
- Smithsonian magazine, March 2010, Subscribe
Esther Renee Adams was born on her grandmother’s birthday, June 2, and was named for her, though eventually, after “Mamaw” started calling her “Nay Bug” (because she was scared of ladybugs), everyone else did, too. No granddaughter loved her grandmother more. Mamaw could take the smart out of a wasp sting and hold her own in bubble-gum-blowing contests. She was always game to slice into the Fourth of July watermelon a few days early.
Mamaw died of emphysema in July 1990, when Nay Bug was 7. “Half of me died, too,” she says.
Mamaw was laid out in her own home. In the mountains of eastern Kentucky, such “country wakes” could last for days, as mourners emerged from the coal mines or drove out from the factories. Sometimes so many people showed up, the parlor floor had to be reinforced. Guests paid their respects to the dead, then went into another room for sandwiches, coffee and a long visit.
Not Nay Bug. While people talked outside, “you know where I was?” she asks. “Right there with my Mamaw. I stayed up with her all night.”
And when a man with a camera came and asked to take her picture, she said she wanted to lay a rose across her grandmother’s chest. “He said, ‘Sure, if it’s what you want to do,’ ” Nay Bug recalls. Then he took the picture.
Home Funeral would become one of Shelby Lee Adams’ best-known portraits of Appalachian life.
Adams wouldn’t see Nay Bug again for 18 years. He found her in the summer of 2008 at the head of Beehive Hollow, up a winding road, living in a house without running water or electricity. A coal-black teardrop was tattooed by the corner of her eye. Adams began photographing her again.
For 36 years, Adams has spent his summers in several rural Kentucky counties, watching children grow up, families flourish or fall apart and green mountains crumble after years of coal mining. Coal dust feels omnipresent in Adams’ pictures, which he shoots almost exclusively in black-and-white.
His portraits of “the mountain people,” as he calls them, are intimate, direct and sometimes bleak. Some critics—including those featured in The True Meaning of Pictures, a 2002 documentary film about Adams’ work—say he exploits a region already saddled with stereotypes involving poverty and violence. Adams says he’s capturing a fading culture—home wakes, for instance, are now less common in the mountains—and the faces of old friends. “When [critics] are taken out of their middle-class comfort zone, they are confronted with another person’s humanity,” he says. “And they blame the photographer.”
Adams, 59, has roots in both the mountains and the middle class. He lives in western Massachusetts but was born in Hazard, Kentucky, not far from where he takes his portraits. He is distantly related to Hobart Ison, an Appalachian who in 1967 fatally shot a filmmaker on his land, but Adams’ father was a supervisor for a natural gas company with contracts around the country, and his family often lived in cities, including New York and Miami. When Adams returned to Kentucky for part of each year, he says, his father taught him to look down on the “holler dwellers.”
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I was not raised in kentucty but I was raised poor in a very rich suburb of NJ.Poor is poor no matter where it is .We at many times had no water or plumbing.Many winters we suffered with no heat,leaks in the ceiling,and going to bed hungrey.The people of Kentucty should know this and relize it is not only in the mountains of teir home.Once you see this you know you are part of a very special club!
Posted by debra on May 4,2013 | 07:04 PM
Every time I find pictures from Eastern Kentucky I fall all over myself to see if I recognize anyone or place. I was raised in Breathitt County--at Riverside, one of the mission schools throughout Eastern Ky (usually started by people from up north) Dan Cornett, my great, GG papaw, gave the first couple acres for the school on a promise his children attend there. They,and a host of mountain children who couldn't get to public schools, attended Riverside Christian Training School, at Lost Creek, Ky. Change always comes, but seems to hesitate at Eastern Ky's door....somewhere just after Daniel Boone Forest..and from stories grandma told, hesitation was probably smart. Daddy broke the coal mine, moonshine vocation callin most of the family males seemed pressed to follow. He went to college, seminary, got a Phd, and married a "foreigner from Indiana".(Grandma's words) Dad returned to run Riverside as "Dr. Barnett" and taught at various Eastern Ky colleges. I'm the eldest of seven and we lived on Riverside campus, & eventually moved to Maryland---and I search the net for where I rode bikes across swinging bridges, ran boats down flooded creeks,helped grandma & cousins plant & tend corn after Pappaw, Junebug, and Tommy Terry plowed with the mules. Where my 19 year old aunt, Ruth Ann, gut-shot herself with one of Pappaws pistols while he was in jail for murder or moonshining--forget which time it was. Grandma hid the guns in a different spot each day, but Ruthie knew where, and shot herself pushing it into her peddle pushers. She died that night as dad held her hand, and squeezed "yes" when he prayed "the sinner's prayer". Ruth Ann was laid out in grandma's house where the whole county paid respects the night before the funeral. Next day Pap was brought in chains from prison. That's not allowed anymore, but I remember him in chains at his daughter's funeral, with his son holding the service... at Riverside.
Posted by Beth Barnett Chaney on February 25,2013 | 04:28 AM
H, I was born in berea ky. I live in indiana now but miss ky. Could some one send me information on how I can help. I have a degree in community psychology and work as a drug and alcohol counselor. but i would love to do anything to help. Sincerely, Rhonda Burdette p.s. if anyone reads this and may know someone of my family i wildie, conway, and the surrounding area please contact me. thank you
Posted by Rhonda Burdette on January 13,2013 | 02:48 PM
I have just completed a new, 250 page book called "Celtic Indian Boy of Appalachia: A Scots Irish Cherokee Childhood." The following are excerpts from the book review, "Butch Walker tells his personal tale of two cultures...His roots are deeply planted in the mountains and valleys of the southern foothills of Appalachia...you are taken from the cotton fields, creek bottoms, and backwoods in a tale of heartache and adventure...You will feel his sting of a poverty driven area; you will cry at his heartaches; you will feel the pain of needs to be met; and you will laugh at the little joys that meant so much to him...stories are true and full of life; his struggles and trials were real...hillbilly,redneck, or just plain country; to him, the old ways and ways of the wild were just life, as it is, not retouched...you laugh, cry, feel the triumph, and the pain of a Celtic Indian boy growing up in...the lower Appalachian Mountains."
Posted by Rickey Butch Walker on January 13,2013 | 12:04 PM
Poverty has become a bad word to so many. But I have to say that being poor and living in the project inside a town versus being poor and living in the country are not the same. Particularly in eastern KY. I was born and raised in central KY and know a whole lotta people from the mountains and Owsley county. There does seem to be a big stereotype. I wonder how many city people think the "Dukes" are from Hazard? There's a stereotype show for ya. But seriously, I was a poor kid just like those you see in Owsley county. I ran around with second hand clothes, playing in dirt and mud and was lucky to have a toy at all. I had to "create" fun any way I could. I learn to love and appreciate the outdoors and never took a thing for granted. There's a huge blessing in being poor if you're taught to not be selfish. And anyone who looks down on being poor is a sure sign of selfishness. That accounts to about the majority of the american population in this century. I betcha.
Posted by Joe789 on October 9,2012 | 04:00 PM
I lived in and went to college in Murray, KY back in the 80's. I have only visited parts of eastern KY. but, I found the folks to be honest, and forthright. i would love to return someday, and retire in the mountains. I'll always remember the extra good church services in Graves County. I will always have a love in my heart for the wonderful folks in KY. Hopefully, I can return someday, to live out the remainder of my days in "Home Sweet Home - Kentucky".
Posted by Russell on July 4,2012 | 12:13 PM
What strikes me is how the young people are sad, broken, ashamed, and the old people stronger, more content, often self reliant, and even proud of their heritage. I think it's because of their partial exposure to a world they think is looking down on them, theat tells them they don't matter. I used to know a girl who could take you on magical walks through the woods and show you where she used to pick blueberries as a girl, and tell stories of her great grandparents who had lived close by. Some times, I even felt as though I half way knew them. But if I lovingly called her a country girl, she'd get offended. I found this funny for someone I thought to be in many ways often smarter than I. Often, I would be put to this kind of test, where in I was supposed to proove I loved her. I noticed that whenever I mentioned anything about her relationship with her grandparetns, her freeness in nature, her knowledge in the garden, it was dismissed as though I were simply in love with a stereotype. This sensitivity (I believe somewhere there must be a better word) made me sad, as I really did love her and thought many of the aspects I wasn't aloud to cherish were indeed a rarity in our generation.... I try not to idealized the past, and certainly not poverty. But I have noticed a lot of people in our time suffer from poverty of the spirit.... Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. Truly, often not a hour.
Posted by Quent on July 2,2012 | 01:55 PM
I was born and raised in Eastern Kenutcky and have lived in alot of other states. I have been back here for over 20 years and I thank GOD for letting me get up each morning to see the most beautiful sights and hear the most sweetest songbirds. Life is a little slower here and its a great place to raise kids. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else if I had a choice.
Posted by Debbie on June 22,2012 | 01:48 PM
I live in Hazard, KY. Was born and raised here. I hate how we get stereotyped because there are poverty stricken areas all over the country. I didn't grow up in poverty but I was taught to value money and family. I had a great education and am currently pursuing my PhD. There are a couple of organizations that come to this area to help repair houses during the summer. Most of them are teenagers and young people in church organizations. I think it is a great thing to help others. But, with our heritage the well off does help the needy in this area. When the tornadoes hit a couple of months ago they actually had to tell people to quit sending donations of clothes!
Posted by Stacie on May 28,2012 | 04:14 PM
The only good to come out of this is the money made by the photos for the photographer lol. Kimberly what you said is right. Thank you.
Posted by lowell howard on May 12,2012 | 06:58 PM
Posted by Joyce Kotzur on March 31,2012 | 09:54 PM Joyce you are never too old. Had a lady 84 on a crew when I spent 1 week in Appalachia with Appalachia Service Project. http://asphome.org/ASP_News
Posted by Jim on April 24,2012 | 12:45 PM
I received information from some organization, I believe called Appalachian Project, where people volunteer during summer months when the weather is good to help repair houses for people and even insulatethem for people to keep them warm in the cold winter months. If I can find their mailing address I will post it on this website, so anyone wanting to volunteer could do so. The accept donations to buy materials to do necessary repairs. I do not have any carpenter skills and probably am too old to volunteer, but I have sent a few small donations to help. I am 75 yrs old and retired, but have helped as much as I can. However, I would be willing to send clothes if that would help them as I could get my friends & relatives to donate too. God Bless these wonderful people.
Posted by Joyce Kotzur on March 31,2012 | 09:54 PM
As a native Kentucky "hillbilly", I am in fact PROUD of my roots. While many of my fellow Southeastern Ky. compatriots may feel that we are shown in a deprecating manner, I grew up in McCreary County some 50 years ago and spent many years with the Department of Education. These pictures are NOT any different than the reality I saw not only as a child but also as a professional. While I would have been considered POOR by the standards of those residing in the cities, we were in all actuality working middle class. Even as a young adult I visited the homes of friends who lived in Eastern Kentucky, some whose homes had dirt floors but these families were indeed proud and upstanding people. While their circumstances were not the "norm" in the U.S. as a whole, they were in no way lesser than anyone else except for their lack of money. When we embrace the reality of our heritage, we can show our PRIDE in the differences within yet another subset of the American culture and experience. Many poor Appalachian families may need financial assistance in developing skills and in development of jobs for them to take pride in but they remain a culture of traditionalism and good solid American values. I'm not sure I could have ever asked for a better place to develop my value system. I will always be proud of this heritage, no matter how anyone from the outside may view it. I can only assume that in some ways we are no different from the other subcultures in our great social melting pot of a country.
Posted by Thomas E. Branscum on March 8,2012 | 10:15 AM
I grew and still live in the Appalachians,and believe me it is a life that if you didn't grow up here you should have.We grew up with love,spankings and what it is like to know and help your neighbors and family.I have done almost every aspect of work here,from setting tobacco through the process of baling it,had the biggest gardens you can imagine,and canning it,raised cattle to slaughtering hogs and chickens.And guess what I had a great education and worked in a hospital as a Health Information Specialist.I have a soninlaw from California who loves living here,so yes we are different and we are very very strong people and very proud people.My grandmother was taken home when she passed and we had her wake for 2 days,we respected her,and yes children learn young about death,but we don't live forever,a fact of living is dying at the end.We keep the traditions that was brought from our forefathers from Ireland and Scotland,and many ways are hard,but we make it and we made it well.Don't feel sorry for us,feel like we are Humans.
Posted by lisa on February 22,2012 | 02:46 PM
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